Safety device for money-drawers, &amp;c.



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A. R. THOMPSON. SAFETY oEvlcE Foa MONEY DRAWEHS, m.

APPLICATION FILEDv JAN. 261 1920. y

Patented Mar. 1, 1921.

A. R. THOMPSON. SAFETY DEVICE FOR MONEY DRAWERS, &c.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. Zy 1920.

0 1l n. 92 1T r an E dw .W2 num. im Di I Hmmm 4f I IV @ff/@ @MM 25 which such valuables 30 able this to be UNITED STATES PATENT oFFlcE.

ARTHUR R. THOMPSON, F CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR 0F ONE-HALF TO CHARLES C. FOX, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

SAFETY DEVICE Fon MONEY-DRAWERS, ad.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 1, 1921.

Application led January 26, 1920. Serial No. 354,077.

banks and other business establishments in stacking piles of money and valuables in exposed positions in drawers, or the tops of desks, in show cases and 1n show wmdows, is a constant inducement to thieves and burglars to rob and steal, because of the comparative ease with which they can i reach and and success The obJect of my mventlon et 'possession of the property fgully commit their depredations. is to enable the officials or employees of a bank or store,

or any of them, to promptly, the instant there is any kind of danger, dump the centents of the desk or drawer, or show case or show window, or other support on or 1n etc. are placed, lnto a chute, down which they will gravitate into a place of safety where vthey cannot be reached within the period of time usually at the disposal of the marauders, and to endone without the display of such personal actions as would apprise the thieves or robbers as to how and by whom it was done.

This I accomplish through the medium of the mechanism hereinafter described, and

as illustrated in the drawings, in which like reference numerals represent corresponding parts.

In the drawings- Fi ure 1 is a vertical section of a; desk showing a side view of my improvements which are applied thereto.

Fig. 2 is a vertical section of my improved drawer and desk drawn to a larger scale.

Fig. 3 is a plan View yof the desk showing a portion of the top broken 'away to disclose portions of my invention.

Flg. 4 is a vertical section taken on dotted line 4, 4, Fig. 2. V v

Flg. 5 is a horizontal section taken on dotted line 5, 5, Fig. 2. I

Flg. 6 is a vertical section taken on dotted l1ne 6, 6, Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is a diagrammatical view of the.

electrical layout of two drawers embodying my 1mprovements.

Fig. 8 is a sectional view of a fragment of my invention.

l Fig. 9 is a 'front elevation of my invention showing the lefthand inclined chutes, and the superposed mechanism connected therewith, broken away.

In the drawings A represents the to of a high desk; .B the vertical side walls o the same, between whichl the sliding drawer `embodying my invention is supported, and

C a suitable chute that may be made of any suitable shape so longpas it is lar enough to receive the discharge from said drawer and lead downward from a point, just below saidv drawer, either in a perpendicular or inclined direction to one side or the other, to a suitable receptacle below the floor D.

The drawer above referred to is rectangular in horizontal section, and the upper edges of its front wall 10, its sidewalls 12, and its rear wall 13, are all in the same horizontal plane. The height of the front Wall is much less than that of its rear 'wall,'and the .front edges of the side walls, below the lower edge of the front wall, are'inclined to the rear, thus, whenlooking at the sides of the side walls they have theappearance of a trapezoid whose upper 'front angle is truncated. y

The rectangular bottom 14 of this drawer has its front edge hinged, by means of suitable hinges 15, 15, to the lower edge of the' front wall, and its rear transverse edge terminates a suitable distancein front of the rear wall 13. J' ust above this rear edge the drawer is provided with a transverse partition 16 that forms the back of the portion of the drawer that isA designed to relceive the 'valuables' or other matter it is defrom the rear edge of `bottom 14 of the drawer and when it moves rearward said bottom drops or dumps, and when it moves forward it is adapted to move under said rear edge, when the bottom is in a horizontal position, and support the same. Bar 18 is kept pressing toward the front of the drawer by means of longitudinally disposed coil-springs 20, 20, that are interposed between the extended vends of said bar and blocks 21, 21, secured to the outer surfaces of the side walls of the drawer, in channels, formed between the rear portions of the longitudinal supporting cleats, 22, 22, secured to the outer surfaces of the side walls of the drawer and superposed strips 23, 23, which latter are suitably .secured to said side walls and are separated from and parallel to the rear portions of the cleats.

When bottom 14 drops. down, the contents of the drawer are dumped into the chute C and gravitate therein into ythe receptacle provided to receive lthem, as hereinbefore stated. This may be accomplished by moving the bar 14 rearwardly in one of several wa s, manually or electrically.

n order to accomplish this electrically, I provide the rear ed e of bar 18 with a strip of soft metal 24, t at is suitably secured thereto, and helices that are secured to each end of an overhead cross-bar 25, connecting lthe sides of the drawer; which helices when energized, attract said strip 24 and move the bar 1-4 out from under bottom 18 and permit it to dump. These helices are connected, preferably, in series, in the same electric circuit, and wires 27, 27, that leadfrom the same extend to and connect with a metal contact strip 28, secured to .the under edge of the supporting-cleats. These supportingcleats 22, 22, are secured to the sides ofthe desk, and the upper orengaged surfaces of these guide-cleats are also provided with metal contact-strips 30, 30, that are alwa s engaged by contact-strips 28, no matter 1n -what position the drawer maybe in. The wiresv 31, Aand 32 of the circuit leading from strips, 30, 30,'are respectively, connected up with the necessary primary battery 32 or other source of electrical energy, and one of them has a switch or push-button 33 con-` nected therewith. which mayl be located on the floor or any other place where it can be conveniently reached and instantly operated Lamm'l to close the circuit and release the bottom of i wherethey are connected by the transverse stretch o f the bail. This transverse stretch may be made of wood, if desired, and when it is desired to dump the drawer the operator quickly pushes against this transverse stretch of frame 35 and bottom 14 instantly drops. In order to restore bottom 14 to its horizontal position after it has been dumped, a rectangular panel 36 is pivotally connected at about the center of length of its side edges to the side walls of the drawer, just back of the inclined forward edges of the same. The center of width of this panel near its upper edge is provided with a finger slot437, and

bar 18. The frontredge of this bar is, prefer-l ably, given an undercut bevel, and the 'rear edge of the bottom engages this under cut beveled edge, as it is swung upward and forces the bar 18 rearward and passes above it, whereupon the bar is forcedv forward under said bottom by springs 20, 20. When the panel is released its weight is so disposed on its pivots that it automatically gravltates into the position where it closes the front of' the drawer below the front wall thereof.

I do not desire to be confined to the exact construction of my invention as hereinbefore described, as it is obvious the details thereof might be changed and modified without departing from the general mechanical principle embodied in the same.

AMoreover I do not desire to connelthe application of my improvements to fa drawer, because they could with equal facilitybeap,- plied to the to of a desk, or the bottom of 'a show case or t e floor of a display window. In either of these events the topy of the desk or the bottom of the show case, or theloor of the display window would be substituted for the bottom 14 ofthe drawer, and remain-- ing mechanism would be the same as that hereinbefore described. All such chan es, I desire to be considered as contemp ated within the scope of my invention.

What I claim as new is: 1. A contrivance of the kind specified comrising a horizontally slidable receptacle, a ottom therefor which is hinged at one enti,

movable means carried by and movable with said receptacle that sustains the end of said member opposite its hinge, electrical devices thatemove said means to withdraw from said end and permit said member to drop, and a chute into which said member` discharges.

2. Acontrivance of the kind specified com'- prising a horizontally slidable receptacle, a bottom therefor which is hinged at one end, movable means carried by said receptacle that sustains the end of said member oppesite its hinge, devices that move said means to withdraw from said end and permit said member to drop, a chute into which said member discharges, and mechanism for restoring said member to its horizontal position.

3. A contrivance' of the kind specified comprising a horizontally slidable receptacle, a bottom` therefor which is hinged at one end, movable means carried by said -re-A ceptacle that sustains the end of said bottom opposite its hinge, devices that move said means to withdraw from said. end and permit said bottom to drop regardless of the position of the drawer, a chute into which said bottom discharges, and mechanism that engages both said bottom and means to restore said bottom to and retain the same in its horizontal position. l

4. A contrivance of the kindy specified comprising a slidable drawer, a bottom, therefor that is hinged at one end, means carried by said drawer that is adapted to engage the end of said bottom opposite its hinges, which regardless of the position of said drawer sustains said end and in another releases and permits said bottom to drop, and a chute into which said bottom discharges.

5. A contrivance of the kind specified comprisin a slidable drawer, a bottom therefor t at is hinged at one end, means carried by said drawer engaging the end of said bottom opposite its hinges, which in one position sustains said end and in another releases and permits 'said bottom to drop regardless of the positiony of the drawer, a device carried by said drawer for moving said means, and a chute into which said bottom discharges. y

6. A contrivance of `the kind. specified comprisin a slidable drawer, a bottom therefor t at is hinged at the frontend, a transverse bar engaging the rear end of said bottom opposite its hinges, which in one position 'sustains vsaid end and in another releases and permits said bottom to drop regardless of the longitudinalk position of said drawer, and a chute into which said bottom discharges 7. A contrivance of. he kind specified comprising a slidable drawer, a bottom therefor which is hinged at one end,v a transverse bar that engages the end of said bottom opposite its hinges and the ends of which are supported and extend through slots in the side walls of said drawer, means for moving said bar to and from the unhinged edge of said bottom, and springs for pressing said bar toward said edge.

8. A contrivance of the Vkind specified comprising a slidable drawer, -a bottom therefor which is hinged at one end, a transverse bar that engages the end of said bottom opposite its hinges and the ends of which are supported and extend through slots in the side walls of said drawer, means formovingsaid bar to and from the unhinged edge of said bottom, springs for pressing said bar toward said edge, and electrical devices for moving the bar away from said bottom.

9. A contrivance of the kind specified comprising a slidable drawer, a bottom therefor which is hinged at one end, a transverse bar that engages the end of said bottom opposite its hinges and the ends of which are supported and extend through slots in the side walls of said drawer, means for moving said bar to and from the unhinged edge of said bottom, s rin s for pressing said bar toward said e ge, e ectrical 'devices for moving the bar away from said bottom, and a panel pivoted between the sides of said drawer for restoring the bottom to its horizontal position.

10. A contrivance of the kind specified comprising a slidable drawer, a bottom therefor which is hinged at one end, a transverse ba'r that engages the end of said bottom opposite its hlnges and the ends of which are supported and extend through slots in the side walls of said drawer, means for moving said bar to and :from the unhinged edge of said bottom, springs for pressing said bar toward said edge, e1ectri 4slots inthe si e walls of said'drawer, means for moving said bar to and from the unhinged edge of V4said bottom, springs for pressing said barptoward sald edge, and a ybail the ends of which are secured to the ends of said bar and which passes to and across in front 'of said drawer. v

12. A contrivance of the kind specified comprising a slidable drawer, a bottom therefor which is hinged at one end, a transverse bar that engages the end of said bottom opposite its hmge, armatures secured to ioo said bar, helices toward which said armatures are attached, supporting cleats secured to the sides of said drawer, contact-strips secured to the undersides of said cleats, a

supporting-frame for said drawer, guidecleats secured to said frame, contact-strips on the upper sides thereof that are engaged -by the rst mentioned contact-strips, an

electric circuit in whichsaid helices and contact strips are connected and an elecv10 .ARTI-I R. THOMPSON. Witnesses: t

FRANK D. THoMAsoN, EVA STREIT. 

